Today, we want to devote some time on a controversial issue - UNGODLY CLOTHING/DRESSING AND ADORNMENT!
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he falls.”
In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at: 14 Because strait [very strict] is the GATE, and narrow is the WAY, which leadeth unto life, and fewthere be that find it.”
In Luke 13:24 Jesus said, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”
“Therefore, work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).
Godly women are not supposed to wear jewelleries. Why? This is because jewelleries defile your body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jewelleries seduce men and send them to hell.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
2 Corinthians 6:16 says, “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
And you say, “But God commanded the children of Israel to collect jewels of gold from the Egyptians, and put them on their sons and daughters.”
“And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: 22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians” (Ex. 3:21-22).
O yes, you are right, but go with me to Exodus 32.
Exodus 32:1-6 says, “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot (know) not what is become of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.
6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”
Now note: On the very day the children of Israel used these gold jewelleries to make an idol and worshipped it, God the Father cursed anything called jewellery because He is a jealous God and He can never share His glory with any one, neither His praise with graven images. That is why anyone putting on such items of jewelleries is accursed just as the jewelleries are cursed. And no accursed thing can ever enter Heaven.
In Isaiah 3:16-24 the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton (seductive) eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well-set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.”
Ezekiel 7:19-21 says, “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity.
20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore, have I set it far from them.
21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.”
The issue of perming, jerry coiling, attachment, weave-on, wigs, the wearing of rings, the wearing of trousers, painting of face and all ungodly clothing have been taught in the Word of God, have been taught by the church of Christ all through the years.
An encounter with a holy God MUST produce not only an inward change, but also an outward visible change. Such an encounter will lead any genuine child of God (both male and female) to the removal and destruction of all ungodly clothes, and change of dressing style to conform to His nature of holiness.
There must be a difference between Delilah and Deborah! So, we want to examine these things in the light of the Scriptures:
Acts 20:19-20 says, “Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.”
In Numbers 31:1-2, 50-51 the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, “Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people….50 We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord. 51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.”
Can you see how the Bible listed the jewels: jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets (necklace).
These things should not be found on the children of God, both men and women.
What heaven approves for your body as a woman is to adorn yourself with modest apparel to cover your nakedness, and to beautify yourself with the hidden man of the heart. This is the life and character of Jesus Christ.
What should be the right dressing and comportment of holy women? The Scriptures say the following about the outward appearance of holy women:
1 Timothy 2:9-10 says, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel (clothes), with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”
NLT puts it this way, “And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10 For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.”
Apparently, some Christian women were trying to gain respect by looking beautiful rather than by becoming Christ-like in character. Some may have thought that they could win unbelieving husbands to Christ through their appearance. See Peter’s counsel to such women (1 Pet. 3:1-6).
It is not unscriptural for a woman to want to be attractive. But you just have to make yourself attractive for your own husband only. Beauty, however, begins on the inside of a person – in your spirit-man. A gentle, modest, loving character gives a light to the face that cannot be duplicated by the best cosmetics and jewellery in the world. A carefully groomed and well-decorated exterior is artificial and cold unless inner beauty is present.
Do not adorn yourself with all the worldly things. Be adorned with the Word/glory of God.
1 Peter 3:2-5 says, “While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands.”
The word “gold” in the above passages means: jewellery which is a collective word for earrings, rings, nose rings, chains, necklace, and bracelets: items of ornamentation or bodily decoration.
Holy women of old time did not adorn themselves with such things. Rather, they clothed themselves with meekness, quiet spirit and holiness which in the sight of God is of great prize. Simply put, they were modest in outward appearance.
Worldliness MUST be avoided in Christian dressing: In the Old Testament time, the ungodly daughters of Zion borrowed worldly adornments from the heathen nations around them. God has warned Israel (His children) not to learn the ways of the heathen.
In Isaiah 3:16-24 the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well-set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.”
The Holy Spirit listed these items to help genuine children of God, both males and females, to avoid them.
To adorn yourself with these things makes you unholy before God. Such things will hinder you from being truly holy in the sight of God, and will certainly hinder you from being raptured.
What to do if I were you: Simply humble yourself and remove them very fast before it is too late. Do not be caught dead with these things on you. Do not risk your soul by vain arguments. There are no corrections of your ways after death. This is the time to amend your ways. There is no mercy over there. Mercy works on earth only.
Psalm 50:21-22 says, “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.”
· Your friend, I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor, HOG) 11.01.2024
No comments:
Post a Comment